Rongeur surgical cutting instruments are known in the art for removing sections of bone or cartilage. Notable examples of these include the surgical rongeurs depicted in each of U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,73 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,997 and which disclose two shaft members capable of reciprocating motion relative to each other wherein one shaft member terminates in a foot plate and the other shaft member includes a combined cutting element and disposable storage chamber. The rongeur may be manually activated or solenoid powered by a battery.
A further example of an adjustable powered rongeur is depicted in US 2010/0179557 to Husted and which teaches an adaptable deburring bit and independent nerve sensors that facilitate positioning of the instrument to a proximate surgery site. The medical instrument has a hand piece on a proximal end of a shaft and a hollow tip portion on a distal end of the shaft. The hand piece includes a handgrip and a squeezable trigger portion, whereby the trigger portion is independently compressible of the handgrip. The trigger portion controls a rotatable surgical tool bit which is housed in the tip portion and powered by a connecting drive system. A safety apparatus is provided on the grip portion, capable of locking the instrument and a monitoring system disposed on the tip portion, in order to identify proximity of nerve endings.